Mike James has fractured ankle

The Tampa Bay Buccaneers officially lost running back Doug Martin for the rest of the season this week when they placed him on injured reserve with a shoulder injury.

Martin’s replacement is now injured as well.

Mike James left Monday night’s game against the Miami Dolphins on the Buccaneers’ opening possession after going down with an ankle injury. James had to be carted off the field and was replaced by Bobby Rainey and Brian Leonard.

According to Ian Rapoport of the NFL Network, X-rays revealed a fractured ankle for James. The full extent of the injury is not yet known and James is going through further testing to determine the damage. Buccaneers head coach Greg Schiano confirmed the injury in his post-game press conference.

James had been impressive in his last two games before the injury. James carried 28 times for 158 yards as Tampa Bay rushed for 205 yards in total against the Seattle Seahawks last week. James had already carried five times for 41 yards on the Buccaneers’ opening drive before doing down with the injury.

Considering how he played in the two games since Martin got hurt, you wonder why Schiano wasn’t using James to split time with him. The next coach will have even more to use when they take over for him next year.